ABBY BROKE THE SILENCE

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PARENTS ARE SO PROUD ‘MIRACLE’DAUGHTER WHO FACED AN UPHILL BATTLE SINCE THE DAY SHE WAS BORN

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When Abby Louise cried in the delivery room, Parents Margaret Anne and David were ecstatic as she was the baby they had been so desperately been longing for.

Doctors warned the couple that their daughter may not cry, because she was being delivered by Caesarean section 12 weeks early.

But as Abby came into this world, she let out a hearty scream, a poignant signal to her mum and dad that she had arrived – and she was alive.

Sadly, Margaret Anne and David know the agony of hearing silence in the delivery room, having lost a stillborn daughter and son before.

Margaret Anne also suffered a number of miscarriages.

The birth of every child is a happy occasion, but given the couple’s past heartache, Abby’s arrival was particularly special for them. She was the little girl they had prayed for, and that is why they call her their ‘miracle baby’.

Margaret Anne said "when she cried that day it was amazing. She was born on December 18th, but was not due to march 7th.

David and i had been trying for a child for years. I was determined to have my baby.

When i went down for the c-section, I was scared but I couldn’t wait to get to see her and hold her but. They told me i would have to wait.

"The first day i actually got to hold her was Christmas Eve and that was the best Christmas present anyone could give me.

The following day, David and Margaret Anne celebrated their first Christmas as parents, but the New Year brought bad news.

"It was January 10th, the anniversary of my gran’s death, i will never forget it" said Margaret Anne, fighting back the tears.

"Abby got her last rites. A minister came up to the hospital, he was her godfather and one of the nurses was her godmother. "She stopped breathing and was clinically dead for a few seconds before they brought her back. I believe my gran was there with her and told her to come back. We ‘lost’ her on the Saturday and by the Tuesday, Abby was breathing on her own, Abby really was a miracle baby.

Today, schoolgirl Abby, from Govanhill in Glasgow, makes an lasting impression on everyone she meets with her lovely smile, good nature and her fighting spirit.

But even after her battle for survival at birth, little Abby had another fight on her hands. In December 2006 Abby was diagnosed with a disease of the immune system, called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or SLE in the same week as her ninth birthday.

SLE, which is not linked to her premature birth, can damage any organ or system in the human body. For Abby it has caused a hospital for Sick Kids at Yorkhill Glasgow put her on a intense seven- month course, a chemotherapy, treatment more commonly administered to children and adults battling cancer.

Every day she takes 14 tablets to keep her condition at bay, and must wear, and must wear sun cream at school to protect her delicate skin from breaking out in Lupus rashes when exposed to fluorescent light. Margaret Anne said "she can’t run about as much as her friends and she gets tired a lot. Sometimes she can be in a lot of pain, and because her immune system is so weak, she is prone to infections.

"When she is not well, i get frightened. At her school i have to know what infections are going around, because Abby is open to everything and it puts her in danger. Her school has been fantastic; the teachers there are so understand.

When David and i found out Abby had SLE, we felt we were back at square one. "Visiting the hospital again brought it all back, all the emotions we went through when she was a baby came rushing back to haunt us.

We’re coping okay, but sometimes I get bubbly. People say I shouldn’t cry in front of Abby, but i can’t help it when i look at her sometimes. "She is a lovely child and when I’m down she comes over to me to cuddle me and tells me not to worry. Hospital is going to be a big part of her life. She is okay when she goes into Yorkhill hospital, and the staff there is excellent, so i can’t complain.

She is my only child and i can’t have any more kids. She is my world. "We will do anything we can for her, because we love her so much. And by doing "anything", they really mean it.

The family may have climbed many mountains over the last few years, but in October 2007, David and Margaret Anne scalded the dizzy height of the highest mountain in the UK as a tribute to their only child. They joined walkers on a five hour climb to the summit of Ben Nevis.

Because Abby was not strong enough to take part in the Ben Nevis Challenge, she was invited along to open the event, which raised thousands of pounds for Kidney Research UK. The family have also walked along the Forth Road Bridge, White water rafting and other events to raise money for Kidney Research UK.

Just last year Abby was nominated for the Big Hearted Scotland Child of the Year awards in which she finished a runner up for raising a staggering £12.000 for Kidney Research UK. Early this year Abby also finished runner up in the Evening Times Community Champion Awards.

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Abby leading upto her diagnosis was always not well, colds, urine infection then one day she was getting pain in her leg so we taken her crosshouse hospital, inwhich she was kept in for 4 days during tests she was told she had blood and protein in her urine. So yorkhill kept an eye on her over the year then they did a kidney biopsey where it came back she has S.L.E Lupus.

She was then on a strict 7 month course of chemotherapy in yorkhill, at this point she was on all different types of medication to do with her lupus, some days she is more tired than others so she just takes 1 day at a time.

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At school on a day to day basis i have my problems with friends some really annoy me others totally understand and are there for me i struggle sometime modtly when i do PE as it takes alot of energy out of me, swimming i cant do at winter because i dont always make sure i totally dry meaning i', going out in the cold wet this can cause illness or the flu.

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Friends i have a great support from most of me friends in and out of school. The teachers at school have been very supportive i.e. they have house within the school for each year the house i'm in has pick lupus to raise money for the charity for the next few years to help myself raise funds to raise as much awareness as possible. — at Daily Record